In an effort to addresses MEDA’s stated concerns, that “this luxurious project comprised of large, high-end units would be occupied by wealthy residents that will negatively impact the character of this working-class neighborhood and directly and indirectly contribute to displacement impacts that threaten the community’s cultural and economic diversity,” the following revisions were made:

The top floor was split into two units instead of having a luxury penthouse unit.

Removed office space to add three more small dwelling units.

Split another floor into three units from two to make the project more affordable by design.

Included a below market rate unit, which wasn’t originally required, on-site.

Signed a Letter of Intent for the ground floor commercial space with Jason Nazzal, whose family has owned retail businesses in the Mission for 30 years that hires at-risk youth in the Mission and intends to create up to fourteen new jobs for local employment, which is a net addition of thirteen new jobs.

And in response, a representative of MEDA has requested a Discretionary Review (DR) and is seeking to have the project – for which the building permits are pending – blocked.

Next week, San Francisco’s Planning Commission will hear the request. And note, “the DR Requestor stated [that MEDA is] universally opposed to any new construction along Mission Street, regardless of the nature of the project.”

San Francisco’s Planning Department is recommending the 12-unit project be approved as proposed.

…and then folks wonder why the units will be 1M a piece. I can only hope it will get built so eventually the disgusting plaza at 16th & Mission will get cleaned up. This wk I saw drug deals blatantly rampant.

So long old’ Mission, you need to get out of the way. The irish & germans sold to the Latino’s, the latino’s sold these buildings on and profited nicely from it. They are not looking in the rear view mirror like MEDA.

Those pesky wealthy people. They will be parking the high end cars all around the place and spend too much money in the local stores and restaurants . The City should not be getting the property taxes on those high priced units. Let’s keep the Mission poor and on welfare.

The two units replacing the luxury penthouse will now attract two mid-career engineers instead of the one tech executive that would have rented the penthouse. Cultural and economic diversity is saved now.

I don’t understand why developers would make any concessions to a party that is explicitly opposed to any and all new construction in that area. What do they get in return for this concession?

Maybe not saved, but it’s still a step in the right direction. One of the stories of gentrification is how the population density drops- even as new apartments are added and the area becomes more desirable and unaffordable, household sizes drop, fewer people patronize local businesses (although with more money) and the roi of the city’s investments in infrastructure like Bart is less than it could be. Having more ‘affordable by design’ market rate units allows the positive aspects of gentrification while limiting the negatives.

‘fewer people patronize local businesses’? Last time I checked, the Mission has added numerous new restaurants and stores over the past decade. Same thing happened to Brooklyn as it became gentrified. How do you get the idea that gentrification doesn’t benefit local businesses?

Sure. It’s an economic boom, people are eager to live here, business is good. New construction adds more people, which in turn adds more businesses.

But it’s also true that the average household size is dropping. Wealthy households may have more money to spend, but they won’t necessarily spend them at local businesses, especially prosaic local businesses like grocery stores.

London is seeing this: property values going through the roof, housing shortages everywhere, and yet businesses are folding because they no longer have customers. New residents are fewer, and spend more time away from home. They have cars and shop in big box stores and on Amazon. And it isn’t just new units, but old units that are remodeled and occupied by fewer, wealthier people.

So while building additional housing is great, building more and cheaper units will do more for local business than building fewer, larger, more expensive units.

I’m sorry to break this to you, but small local business are being crowded out by Amazon everywhere. Here, New York, New Orleans, Dubuque, Fresno, London, etc. Every city and town on earth with an internet connection.

Totally agreed. I’m morbidly curious to hear the pretzel logic that someone calling themselves the Mission Economic Development Agency would use to justify being universally opposed to any new construction, which you know, would drive economic development.

“Despite the Sponsor’s efforts to revise the Project that resulted in a more compatible project, the DR Requestor stated they are universally opposed to any new construction along Mission Street, regardless of the nature of the project.”

The DR Requestor of record is Peter Papadopoulos, on behalf of Mission Economic Development Agency. The response to the DR was prepared and formally attested to by Kevin Cich, the property owner of record.

I agree. Most new so-called luxury rentals and condos have formulaic floor plans, low square footage, small windowless bathrooms, tiny kitchens with sinks facing a wall, few windows and lots of dark areas, and very little or no private space other than bedrooms and bathrooms.

What used to be called closets are called dens. What used to be called the hall, or more grandly, entry hall, is now called the gallery. Somewhat more expensive materials (sometimes) for countertops, appliances, and plumbing, and the addition of communal movie rooms or barbecue pits, do not vault the units into the luxury category.

I don’t object to the building and selling and buying and renting of units like this, but I see through the luxury con. I respect the tradeoffs people make by choice and necessity. I lived in New York in the 80s and soon learned that while I may have started looking for an apartment with twenty items on my must-have list, my means limited me to two. But I was so glad to live in New York at that time – and most people I knew were in the same situation – so I hardly noticed.

Exhibit A on why SF is so expensive. Rich folks don’t want anything built in their neighborhood, lest their property value may drop; poor folks don’t want anything in their neighborhood either, lest the rich folks may take over. The only real winner is the rich folks who already own properties, not the low/moderate income folks that MEDIA is purportedly fighting for.

Yes it’s satire: the project qualifies under the Arboreal Density Act, that a building can always rise as high as the street tree outside it (this encourages more street planting of macho trees – like redwoods – and yet serves as a defacto height limiter, since there are so few existing ones)

Confirming the adage that no good deed goes unpunished. They revised their plans in response to MEDA’s concerns and in response MEDA said go pound sand. The revisions also make the plans less family friendly by making smaller units (wealthy families, but still), so now wealthy singles instead of wealthy families can live there.

It’s astonishing they still oppose after all those revisions. I support all the revisions made — better, fairer result — but if MEDA still opposes the project, will future developers learn not to bother compromising?

As a so-called “non-profit” housing developer, MEDA is able to charge twice the developer fee (8%) — rather than the 4% developer fee that is typical with market-rate housing development.

That’s how they make their money.

Furthermore, the more market-rate housing they block, the more housing costs rise — and, therefore, the more their “services” are required.

Accordingly, more subsidized (i.e., so-called “affordable”) housing is needed in a futile attempt to offset the ever-increasing distortion in the market caused by the chronic underdevelopment of housing overall.

Get it — it’s the direct opposite of a “virtuous cycle”; its a “vicious circle” brought to you by hypocritical/self-serving/circular “logic” of MEDA.

Why is there so much wasted time and energy spent on revising the design of the building? It just adds to the final purchasing costs.

It is like when tenants of rent controlled units want a six figure payout in addition to statutory fees for an owner move in eviction. And you wonder why rents are so high in SF and why many landlords are angry about the whole rental process.

The Mission Economic Development Agency is to its name what AMWAY is to Mary Kay is to pink Caddy’s — a bumper sticker of cheap lipstick, on a pig that’s really a lemon. For this post to be titled as it was, belies either ignorance or click-baiting or moral turpitude. I vote #3.

Jane Duong – President of MEDA, William Ortiz-Cartagena Vice President of MEDA, and Whitney Jones Treasurer of MEDA would like to let developers on 1900 Mission street and any other developers wanting to improve Mission Street to know that they can hand them a few fat red envelopes at Plaza Adelante 2301 Mission Street (@ 19th Street) Suite 301 San Francisco, CA 94110 if you would like to get their project going.

“displacement impacts that threaten the community’s cultural and economic diversity,”

You mean impacts that threaten the (incumbent) community’s cultural and economic homogeneity? Why is it that successful community organization seems to gravitate around nativist, isolationist, protectionist policy rather than real progressivism?